Children can suffer from a variety of illnesses whether they are mental filled with anger and depression or physical with a sickness. Seeking a short blessing for children is one of the best ways to seek relief for your child. Here is a look at some of the best Catholic prayers for sick babies.
Prayer #1
St. Gerard, who, like the Savior, loved children so tenderly and by your prayers freed many from disease and even death, listen to us who are pleading for our sick child. We thank God for the great gift of our son (daughter) and ask him to restore our child to health if such be his holy will. This favor, we beg of you through your love for all children and mothers. Amen.
Prayer #2
Dear Jesus, Divine Physician and Healer of the sick, we turn to you in this time of illness. O dearest comforter of the troubled, alleviate our worry and sorrow with your gentle love, and grant us the grace and strength to accept this burden. Dear God, we place our worries in your hands. We place our sick under your care and humbly ask that you restore your servant to health again. Above all, grant us the grace to acknowledge your will and know that whatever you do, you do for the love of us. Amen.
Prayer #3
Strength and wholeness. I shall run and not be weary. I shall walk and not faint Come Gracious Spirit, Heavenly Dove, With light and comfort from above. Be Thou our Guardian, Thou our Guide, Stay close by every child’s side. Amen!
Prayer #4
Dear Lord, you have witnessed the rebelliousness of youth since the very beginnings of time. You understand a parent’s anguish and helplessness over the actions of his child.
Please help us to transform our anger and frustration into loving care for our child who has gone astray. Help us begin to mend our broken fences and heal our broken hearts. Bless our child and also help him to mend the error of his ways. Help and bless us all to do right in Your name and restore us to peace and tranquility.
Prayer #5
Blessed is the Child of Light Who doth seek his heavenly Father For he shall have eternal life. He that dwelleth in the secret place Of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. For he shall give his Angels charge over thee To keep thee in all thy ways.
Know ye that the Lord hath been Our dwelling place In all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever he had formed The earth and the world Even from everlasting to everlasting, Hath there been love Between the Heavenly Father And his children.
And how shall this love be severed? From the beginning Until the ending of time Doth the holy flame of love Encircle the heads Of the Heavenly Father And the Children of Light: How then shall this love be extinguished?
For not as a candle doth it burn, Nor yet as a fire raging in the forest. Lo, it burneth with the flame Of Eternal Light, And that flame cannot be consumed.
From the Essene Gospel of Jesus
Prayer #6
Heavenly Father, my child is your greatest gift, and my biggest challenge! I know my child is truly distressed, and yet I am at my wit’s end to find a peaceful resolution.
I feel helpless and frustrated. I ask myself, What would my Heavenly Father do in His infinite wisdom and beneficence?
Lord, come into my heart and mind, and share Your loving wisdom with me! Help my child to heal his pain, and help me to become as loving and wise a parent, as You are for us Your children. Thank You Lord, for hearing me and coming to my aid! Bring your loving Peace to me and my child today.
Amen.
Prayer #7
My children, do you know that the Earth And all that dwells therein Is but a reflection of the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father?
And as you are suckled and comforted By your mother when a child, But you go to join your father in the fields When you grow up, So do the Angels of the Earthly Mother Guide your steps Toward him who is your Father, And all his holy Angels, That you may know your true home And become true Sons of God.
While we are children, We will see the rays of the sun, But not the Power which created it; While we are children, We will hear the sounds of the flowing brook, But not the Love which created it; While we are children, We will see the stars, But not the hand which scatters them Through the sky, As the farmer scatters the seed.
Only through the Communions With the Angels of the Heavenly Father, Will we learn to see the unseen, To hear that which cannot be heard, And to speak the unspoken word.
Prayer #8
Lord, you love our child as You love all children, Bring healing to our child who is not well. Stay by his side and comfort him through this trying time. Keep us ever mindful of Your loving presence Bless us with Your powerful healing and comfort us also. Thank You for hearing our prayer!
Prayer #9
O Lord God, I come to You for help and succor. You have afflicted my child . Help me to understand that You mean well.
Give me grace to bear my child’s affliction with patience and strength. Bless me, O Father, and restore my child to health. Do not forsake us, but give us an assurance of Your loving Kingdom. Bless this illness to me and my child , and help us both to be better children of Yours because of it. In the name of Your Holy Son Jesus Christ. Amen!
Prayer #10
Come, Holy Spirit, come Let thy bright beams arise, Dispel the darkness from our minds, And open all our eyes.
Revive our drooping faith, Our doubts and fears remove, And kindle in our breasts the flame Of everlasting Love. Amen!
Prayer #11
Lord, I awake and see your light, For You have kept me through the night, To You I lift my hands and pray, Keep me from sin throughout this day, And if I die before it’s done, Save me through Jesus Christ, Your Son.
Prayer #12
Lord, look upon a little child, By nature sinful, weak and wild; O lay Thy gracious hands on me, And make me all I ought to be.
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon a little child; Pity my simplicity Suffer me to come to Thee.
O supply my every want Feed this young and tender plant Day and night my keeper be, And every moment watch round me. Amen!
Prayer #13
O Jesus,
I am grateful for
your mercy and compassion.
You healed all those,
that approached you in faith.
In your suffering and death,
you redeemed my infirmities
and those of the human race.
I join my suffering to yours,
and ask for your healing mercy.
Give me the strength and courage
to overcome all adversities. Amen.
Prayer #14
Father,
You watch over your children,
with your tender and loving care.
I thank you this day
for your mercy and grace.
I am grateful for your healing power,
and for the abundant blessings
you have given me.
But most of all,
I am thankful for
the promise of salvation,
given through your Son, our Lord.
Through him, when all is completed,
there will be no more sickness or pain.
I pray in his name. Amen.
Prayer #15
Lord Jesus Christ,
Good Shepherd of the sheep,
you gather the lambs in your arms
and carry them in your bosom:
We commend to your loving care this child.
Relieve his (her) pain,
guard him (her) from all danger,
restore to him (her) your gifts of
gladness and strength,
and raise him (her) up
to a life of service to you.
Hear us, we pray, for you dear Name’s sake. Amen.
Prayer #16
Father,
Thank you that when your Son graced this earth
He welcomed the children and blessed them.
Thank you that the same power that raised Him from the dead
Is at work within N. now.
Lord, we give you N.
We invite you to come by the power of the Holy Spirit and restore this beautiful child to life.
Come and pulse through his body by your Spirit.
Bring your healing and strengthen his being.
We ask that in the name of Jesus this sickness would leave his body now.
Thank you that you hear our prayer and no matter what happens You cherish N. and hold him in the palm of your hand now and always.
Amen.
Here is an audience at World Revival Church filled with children praising the flow and presence of God there. It is here, that many children lives are touched and healed of all ages.
connectusfund.org
When cancer enters your life, it can be overwhelming. This post teaches about the Catholic Church’s positions on sickness, healing, and Catholic prayers for the sick.
We’ve also included an inspirational story about Blessed Chiara Badano, a teenage Catholic cancer patient who died in 1990.
Table of contents
Sick, Our Nature Demanded To Be Healed
Ever since our first parents, Adam and Eve, fell from our Father’s grace in the Garden of Eden, humanity has been constantly faced with a huge lack of immortality: We experience pain, we suffer, and, ultimately, we die.
Now, that would sound pretty grim if that was the whole story — Thanks a lot Adam and Eve! But thanks be to God, literally, that is not the whole story. Only moments after the fall from grace, the first sin committed by our first parents, within the same Bible chapter, we have what Catholic tradition calls the protoevangelium: The first Gospel. It’s the first time in the Bible that we are told that salvation will come (cf. Genesis 3:14-15).
But we all know the story quite well. A few millennia later, God Himself became incarnate to save us (cf. CCC 457) and to be our model of holiness (cf. CCC 459).
Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Savior; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state? (St. Gregory of Nyssa in CCC 457).
His Healing Ministry
One of the most obvious themes of the life of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is His healing ministry. Jesus proclaimed liberty to captives and healing to all the sick (cf. Matthew 8:16). But let us not fall into the wrong mindset that many around Jesus fell into. Many thought that Jesus had come to take away suffering, to take away pain and heal every single person of their infirmities. But is this really true?
Yes! An emphatic “Yes, yes, yes!” But… not in the way that many back then had thought. Jesus came to bring us one better: He came to destroy death.
Let’s look at this closely. Jesus is God. That makes Him “He who is Life Himself.” That is to say, God doesn’t merely have life, He is Life. Therefore, when Jesus, Life Himself, goes into the darkness of death, death can’t do anything but be destroyed! Death is no more and is unable to hold Him down and so He rose from the dead to save us (cf. Romans 4:25).
As St. Paul says so emphatically in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
But to proclaim this glorious gift of eternal life that He has given us, He asks us to carry our cross daily for the Cross was the necessary medium to heal the rift between God and man, and lead death to be destroyed. When we suffer with a joyful hope in the resurrection of the dead to eternal life, it can be more evangelistic than our words could ever be. Jesus does, however, heal the physical ailments of many as I mentioned, but they’re always as a sign of the spiritual and eternal salvation that He came to bring us. The Catechism says this in paragraph 1151:
In his preaching the Lord Jesus often makes use of the signs of creation to make known the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. He performs healings and illustrates his preaching with physical signs or symbolic gestures. He gives new meaning to the deeds and signs of the Old Covenant, above all to the Exodus and the Passover, for he himself is the meaning of all these signs.
Catholic Prayers For The Sick
The two most powerful sources of Catholic prayers for the sick will always be the Sacrament of Confession and the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. They both prioritize the spiritual healing and restoration. The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick can sometimes be accompanied by physical healing also.
As St. James so explicitly mentions in his epistle: “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (James 5:14-15).
Always remember that our heavenly Father always has our best interests at the forefront of His plans for us. Jesus always walks with us in our sufferings, especially in our sufferings (I am reminded of that famous story named “footprints in the sand”). Cling to Him with everything that you’ve got and give Him all of your pain, suffering and disillusions. He will turn them into joy, glory, and finally, He will turn your death into life.
A Story Of Blessed Chiara Badano
I leave you with the following inspirational story of a young lady, a cancer patient who is in now in the process of becoming a saint.
Chiara seemed to have everything going for her as a teen. She had a loving, holy family and a rock solid faith that was nurtured by retreats and youth ministry programs. She was popular amongst her friends and was liked by boys. It’s not hard to see why. She was beautiful. Chiara loved to hang out in coffee shops. She was great at tennis, swimming and mountain climbing. Her outgoing personality and adventurous spirit made her dream of becoming a flight attendant. Chiara had a bright life ahead of her.
One day while playing tennis, Chiara experienced excruciating pain in her shoulder. Shortly afterwards she was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma. She watched her bright future slip away. But it’s here that the real story of her life begins—the story of heroic virtue.
Chiara’s joy was explosive and it only increased with her suffering. After one very pain-filled night she said, “I suffered a lot, but my soul was singing.” Google pictures of her on her death bed. Her eyes look like pools reflecting the glory of heaven. One of her doctors remarked, “Through her smile, and through her eyes full of light, she showed us that death doesn’t exist; only life exists.” Cardinal Saldarini heard of this amazing teen and visited her in the hospital. Awestruck, he said, “The light in your eyes is splendid. Where does it come from?” Chiara’s reply was simple: “I try to love Jesus as much as I can.”
Chiara had a profound sense of redemptive suffering. She often repeated the phrase, “If this is what you want, Jesus, so do I.” Like any teenage girl, she loved her hair, but with each lock that fell out she’d pray, “For you, Jesus.” She frequently refused morphine, saying, “I want to share as much as possible in His suffering on the cross.”
During one of her many hospital stays Chiara took walks with a depressed, drug-dependent girl, despite the pain of walking from the huge growth on her spine. When she was encouraged to stop and rest she said, “I’ll have time to rest later.” Ever thinking of others, she said, “I have nothing left, but I still have my heart, and with that I can always love.”
Chiara requested to be buried in a wedding gown. As the end of her short life drew near she told her mother, “When you’re getting me ready, Mum, you have to keep saying to yourself, ‘Chiara Luce is now seeing Jesus.’”
She died on Oct. 7, 1990. Her parents and friends were with her. Her last words were: “Goodbye. Be happy because I’m happy.”
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Let us pray for one another in our times of trial that we may be able to endure with unending love for Jesus. Maybe we can take the words of Blessed Chiara and make them our own when we are in pain, emotional or physical: “For you, Jesus.”
Are you, or is someone you know, affected by cancer? Please submit a prayer request so our readers and our prayer team can pray with you.
cancerprayernetwork.com
